Our client was a male in his 50's from a large family. He completed his School Certificate and worked as a shearer for over 30 years. At the time of his accident, he was working as a care worker.
He enjoyed life and prior to sustaining his injuries he was a fun person to be around. He started his days in a good mood and was very good with friends and was incredibly sociable.
Our client lived with his partner and the two youngest of their three children. He and his partner would share tasks around the house like, cleaning and cooking whenever the other was busy. Our client enjoyed music and doing things outdoors, such as mowing the lawn, planting crops, and gardening in general. He enjoyed being outdoors and spending time with his family. Prior to his injuries, they would often have family BBQs and dinners or go out with friends and family.
Our client worked virtually non-stop, having every second weekend off if he was lucky. He would start early in the morning during the week and not finish until around 7pm at night with short breaks during the day. He enjoyed his work as a care worker.
On the day of his accident, he was driving to one of his customer’s premises when he was involved in a severe motor vehicle accident. A motorcycle travelling towards him from the opposite direction lost control and impacted his vehicle. Our client did not sustain any physical injuries other than some minor bruising, blurred vision, watery eyes, and headaches. However, he suffered a severe psychological injury after the incident after witnessing the motorcycle riders severed body parts along the road. It was revealed that the police were in pursuit of the motorcycle at the time of the accident.
Our client took some time off to recover from the accident. During this time, he spent very little time outside and his partner did all the driving. Their relationship suffered and arguments were started over the simplest of things. Our client was easily upset over things and didn’t take care of himself properly, not taking showers, drinking extensive amounts of alcohol, and not eating very well. He would often have nightmares. It was clear the traumatic experience, understandably, resulted in significant psychiatric injuries.
He tried returning to work after a few weeks of rest but had trouble driving and was very reactive to motorcycles. Our client continued to try and push through his injuries, but after a while he couldn’t return to work. He was admitted several times for treatment at hospital and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He contacted LawAdvice to act for him with respect to his motor vehicle accident and in the process of this claim, we investigated the possibility of acting for him with respect to a Total and Permanent Disability or TPD claim with his superannuation. TPD is a form of insurance contained within superannuation and separate to any superannuation balance.
TPD insurance is a benefit often provided in life insurance policies as well as within superannuation plans. There are a variety of definitions with respect to qualifying for TPD, therefore a review of the policy wording by an expert lawyer is recommended before making a claim.
We requested medical attendant statements from our client’s treating medical practitioners and compiled all the necessary paperwork to submit his TPD claim. The TPD application was finalised and LawAdvice was successful in obtaining a lump sum settlement for our client. This lump sum greatly assisted in funding his future treatment requirements.